Timer for explosion-engines.



Ai B. YOUNGREN.

TIMER FOB. EXPLOSION ENGINES.

' APPLICATION FILED APBHH, 1911. 1,037,401

Patented Sept. 3,1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

A Zbllf yw mvsmon WITNESSES ATTORN EY COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH cm, WASHINGTON. D c.-

Patented Sept. 3, 1912.

111s-s11nn1 2. I'M ZBHB 8 4 S 1/ g I I44 -g M 25.5 55 l .57 5 -1 INVENTOR! 61 WITNESSES ATTORNEY coumlu HANBGIAPH 00', WASHINGTON, D- C ALBERT E. YOUNG-BEN, OF KEWANEE, ILLINOIS.

TIMER FOR EXPLOSION -ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 3, 1912.

Application filed April 11, 1911. Serial N 0. 620,424.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT E. YOUN- GREN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Kewanee, in the county of Henry and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Timer for Explosion-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to improvements in timer mechanisms for explosion engines, and its object is to provide a timer mechanism particularly adapted to engines of the rotary type, whereby the time of ignition with respect to the time of greatest compression of the charge may be advanced or retarded at will, or if need be by automatic means, and the timer may be readily adjusted for the reversal of the direction of rotation of the engine without necessitating any change in the structure.

While the invention is not limited to any particular type of engine or even to a rotary engine, it is well adapted for use in connection with the explosion engine shown and described in an application for Letters Patent filed by me on even date herewith.

In accordance with the present invention the timer is shown as provided with a contact member in the path of contacts carried by the rotor of the engine, the timer except for such movement as is necessary for the desired adjustments remaining stationary, being mounted upon a fixed portion of the engine, but provision is made whereby the active contact carried by the timer may be moved to different positions about the axis of rotation of the contacts carried by the rotor to cause the energization of the igniter in the desired time relation to the period of greatest compression of the charge to be fired.- To adapt the timer to rotative movement of the rotor of the engine in either direction, two contacts are provided and these contacts are spaced apart, so that less angular movement about the axis of rotation is required than would be the case were but one contact provided.

The invention will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, with the understanding, however, that the showing of the drawings is not to be taken as mandatory, for the invention is susceptible of various changes in structure and proportions of parts so long as there is no material departure from the salient features of the invention, and, therefore, the invention is not limited to the exact showing of the drawings.

In the drawings :Figure 1 is a section of an engine constructed in accordance with the present invention, the section being taken on the line 11 of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a section on a larger scale than Fig. 1 taken in a substantially horizontal axial plane considering the structure in the position shown in Fig. 1. -Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a shaft 1 on which is secured a port block 2 shown in the drawings as square in cross section, but which may be of any other suitable shape, and this port block has secured thereto a suitable number of power cylinders 3, four of such ower cylinders being indicated in the drawing, but this number is c not mandatory though it constitutes an efficient number. Each cylinder is provided with a piston 4 having a 'pitman 5,'which in turn is connected to a crank shaft 6 carrying a gear wheel 7 exterior to a crank case 8, it being customary to provide a gear wheel 7 on each end of the crank shaft, although this feature not forming any part of the present invention has been omitted from the drawings. The crank shafts 6 and gear wheels 7 carried thereby are arranged in a circular series about the axis of the shaft 1 at ninety degrees apart and the crank cases are connected together by a rim 9 which ma also serve as a belt receiving rim for the transmission of power from the engine. The gear wheels 7 mesh with a clrcular rack 10 fixed as by keys 11 upon an annulus 12,

forming part of the frame of the engine as a whole, and this annulus, which may be termed a sub-frame, is held against rotation in any suitable manner. In the complete engine, two sub-frames 12 at opposite ends of the shaft 1 are provided, but as the present invention is at one side of the engine only the remoter side of the engine has been omitted from the drawings. The sub-frame 12 under consideration is provided with a peripheral flange 13 concentric with the axis of rotation and providing on its outer surface a seat for the circular gear rack 10.

The sub-frame 12 is also providedwith an annular extension 14: carrying ball bearings 15 for the shaft 1, and these ball bearings have on opposite sides bushings 16, 17 re- .these ring members being provided'with passages 22 matching the passages 19 and surrounding the terminal member 21 shown "is a port ring 23 provided with a port 2 1 communicating with an intake manifold 25 whereby an explosive charge may be conveyed through the manifold 25 and port 24 to the passages 22 in succession, and by way ='-of the passages 19 and to the interior of the cylinders in like order, the engine taking a charge into each cylinder in succession at a certain point in the rotativemovement of the rotor of the engine, then compressing said charge, then firing the charge and finally scavenging the burnt gases during the one complete rotation of the engine or oftener, depending upon the particular relation of t e gear wheels 7 and rack 10, but for the purposes of the present invention it may be consideredthat one complete rota-f tion of the rotor is necessary for the four cycles of a four cycle engine, the engine shown in the drawings being of such type.

The inner face of the flange 13 which is in overhanging relation to the main body of the sub-frame 12, may be turned or otherwise trued, and in the space thus provided there is mounted a ring 2 1 constituting the timer ring, this ring being provided with a longitudinal slot 25, through which passes a headed screw 26 entering the flange 13 and acting as a stop screw determining the extent of rotative movement of the ring 24 on its seat against the inner face of the flange 13. The ring 24 is of less width than the inner face of the flange 13 to provide for a retaining ring 27 held to the flange 13 by screws 28 or in any other suitable manner, whereby the ring may be rotated but will not escape from its seat except when the ring 27 is purposely removed.

Fast to the inner face of the ring 24c is a segmental rack 29, being held to the ring 24L by screws 30 or in any other suitable way, and this rack is engaged by a pinion 31 on one end of a shaft 32 extending through and j ournaled in the sub-frame 12, the shaft being positioned by a collar 33 bearing against the outer face of the subframe 12. At an appropriate point on the shaft'32 exterior to the sub-frame 12 is a manipulating wheel 34;, and when the timer is adjusted by hand only the shaft 32 need "not extend beyond the wheel 34, but when the timer is to be adjusted automatically, as

by a governor, then the shaft is extended beyond the hand wheel, as indicated in Fig. 2, but since the governor structure forms no necessary part of the present invention in so far as the special construction of the timer is concerned it has been omitted from the drawings and no reference thereto is deemed necessary.

The segmental gear 29 is of considerably less width than the ring 2st to provide for a lug 35 formed on the inner face of said-ring, and said ring is also provided with another lug 36 spaced from the lug 35 by a suitable interval and the lug 36 may or may not extend to the full width of the ring 24. Each lug 35 and 36 is provided with. a passage parallel with the axis of generation-ofthe ring. 2 1 and in thispassage is seated a block 37 of :insulating material housing the corresponding end of a stem 38, which latter within the blockis provided with a head 39 anchoring said stem in the block, while the other end of the stem 38, which is long enough to project beyond the plane of the corresponding face of the sub-frame 12 carries a contact roller 39, to which reference will presently be made. Each stem 38 is engaged by a screw 40 extending radially through the lug 35 or 36 as the case may be, although, of course, the exact position of this screw is not mandatory, and the screw is insulated from the lug and receives on its projecting end a-nut 11, which may have the form of a thumb nut such as is commonly employed in binding posts, the thumb nut l1 and screw 40 performing the function of a binding post, as well-as serving to anchor the stem 38 in the lug 35 or 36. The two binding posts composed of the nut 41 and screw 40 secure respective conductors 4:2, 13, which, however, are, when the engine is installed, connected up to the same source of electric energy, or where the reversal of the engine is not liable to be required, only the proper one of the conductors42 or 1-3 is used and the other is omitted. Where the reversal of the engine is liable to be required at more or less frequent intervals, then both conductors are used, and suitable electric switching means are provided for coupling one or other of the conductors to the source of electrical energy as may be found desirable. The ring 24?, therefore, carries contacts 39 insulated from the ring and either of these contacts may be included in a charged circuit.

The port block 2 carries spark plugs which may be of any suitable type, and in the particular showing of the drawings are illustrated as of the jump spark type, but this, of course, is not mandatory. Attached to each cylinder 3 is a block 15 of insulating material having a passage therethrough :for a stem 46 surrounded within the block by a spring 17 and exterior to the block formed or provided with a head 48 in the path of the rollers 39 The end of the stem 46 remote from the head 48 carries a binding nut 49 constituting with the stem a binding post which receives one end of a conductor 50,

the other end of which is connected to the adjacent spark plug 44, the conductor 50 being sufficiently flexible to permit movement of the stem 46 against the action of the spring 47. It will be understood that the conductors 42 and 43 are, also, of the flexible type and of such length as to permit the degree of rotative movement of the ring 24 necessary for the purposes of the present invention.

The heads 48 andspark plugs 44 and parts connecting them rotate with the cylinders and constitute part of the rotor of the engine. The contact rollers 39 are, however, relatively fixed and are only moved when purposely so done by rotation of the shaft- 32. But one of the contact rollers 89 is charged at any one time, so that it is only when a contact block or head 48 engages such roller 39 that the circuit to the spark plug is completed .and the spark passes, it being understood that the spark plug is grounded through the metal of the engine after the usual practice. It is immaterial to the operation of the spark plugs that both rollers 39 engage all the heads 48, for only one of the rollers is in the charged circuit and consequently the spark may pass only when such charged head is engaged.

The contact heads 48 of the cylinders en gage the charged roller 39 in succession and by adjusting the ring 94 to the desired position the energization of the spark plugs may take place after the compression stroke of the piston in the cylinder under consideration has been completed and the cylinder is started on its power stroke, as in starting the engine, or the sparking time may be advanced until the spark is caused to pass at the terminals of the spark plug just prior to the time of greatest compression, which is the most eflicient point in the explosion or power zone to obtain the thorough inflaming of the explosive charge. The term zone is used herein to denote the space traversed by an engine cylinder during its p1ston stroke through one cycle, and since in a four cycle engine the piston makes four strokes to accomplish the intaking, compression and firing or exploding of the charge and the exhaust or scavenging of the burnt gases, the successive spaces through which the cylinder travels during the tour operative cycles are, for convenience of description, designated the intake, compression, explosion and exhaust zones, respectively. WVhere the timer is operated automatically, as by a governor, it may start Wit-h the spark retarded and as the speed increases the spark is advanced until at the desired maximum speed the spark passes at the point of greatest efliciency with relation to the time of full compression of the charge. Where the timer is operated by hand, as in an automobile or flying machine or under any other conditions where variable speed is demanded, the spark is retarded or advanced at the will of the operator as may be required.

Let it be assumed that the engine as viewed in Fig. 1 is running clockwise and that the explosion zone extends from approximately the twelve oclock position to the three oclock position. Under these circumstances with the particular engine illus trated the exhaust zone will extend from the three oclock to the six oclock positions, the intake zone from the six oclock to the nine oclock positions, and the compression zone from the nine oclock to the twelve oclock positions, the understanding being that because of the advancing or retarding of the spark the explosion zone may lap somewhat on the compression zone, or the explosion. zone may be less extensive than normal, as is customary. It now it be desired to reverse the direction of the engine so that it will rotate counter-clockwise, then the exhaust and compression zones are interchanged, wherefore, the explosion zone extends from the three oclock to the twelve oclock positions, the exhaust zone extends from the twelve oclock to the nine oclock positions, the intake zone extends from the nine oclock to the six oclock positions and the compression zone extends from the six oclock to the three oclock positions or thereabout, the explosion zone beginning on the six oclock side of the three oclock position or on the twelve oclo'ck side of the three oclock position in accordance with whether the spark be advanced or retarded. WVhen the engine is reversed the shaft 32 is manipulated to carry the proper contact roller 39 into proper relation to the heads 48, the contact roller 39 then active being the one inactive during the rotation of the engine in the clockwise direction. However, because of the separation of the lugs 35 and 36 the extent of movement of the ring 24 necessary to bring the second roller 39 into active position is consider- 1 ably less than ninety degrees irrespective of the advancing or retarding of the spark, such extent of movement of the ring 24 being as much less than ninety degrees as is the angular separation of the two rollers 39, but this distance is modified to an extent by the movements necessary to advance or retard the spark, as the case may be. By the separation of the rollers 39 the extrememovements of the ring 24 need not exceed, but may be less than ninety degree-s.

What is claimed is 1. A timer for explosion engines movable into different operative positions and having thereon spaced contact members separated by a distance less than the range of movement of the timer, and means for moving one contact member into operative position with respect to a corresponding end of the explosion zone and the other contact member into operative position with respect to the other end of the explosion zone in accordance with whether the engine is to move in one direction or the other, said means for moving the contact members also including means for moving the timer to retard or advance the time of firing the charge.

2. In an explosion engine provided with a plurality of power. cylinders rotatable about a common axis, an igniter for each cylinder, a contact movable with the cylinder and individual to the ig'niter carried by the cylinder, a timer member mounted for limited rotative movement and having thereon spaced electrical contacts in the path of the contacts individual to the cylinders, and means for moving the timer member about the axis of rotation of the cylinder contacts to carry the spaced electrical contacts on the timer member into individual operative relation to respective ends of the explosion zone and to retard or advance the time relation between the activity of the igniter and the compression stroke of the piston in the cylinder containing the charge to be ignited.

3. A multi-cylinder four cycle rotary engine having an explosion zone common to all the cylinders, an igniting means individual to each cylinder and including an electric contact, and two other electric contacts having limited movement within the range of the explosion zone in the path of the cylinder contacts to bring one or the other of said movable contacts individually into operative relation to a respective end of the explosion zone, and means for causing the movement of the second named contacts both for positioning them with relation to the explosion zone and to retard or advance the time of ignition of the charge with relation to the compression stroke of the piston of each cylinder in order.

l. A multi-cylinder rotary explosion engine having an explosion zone common to all the cylinders, igniting means individual to each cylinder and including an electric contact, and a timing means comprising a rotatable member having two spaced contacts thereon of which but one is active at a time, said contacts being in the pat-h of the cylinder contacts, and means for shifting the time determining contact-s with re lation to the explosion zone to bring one or the other of said contacts individually into operative relation to a respective end of the explosion zone and to advance or retard the spark irrespective of the direct-ion of rotation of the engine.

5. An explosion engine having a rotatable series of power cylinders with pistons therein, an igniter means individual to each power cylinder and including an electric contact movable with the power cylinder, a rotatable ring mounted on a fixed portion of the engine concentric with the axis of rotation of the cylinders, means for limiting the rotative movement of the ring, an electric contact carried by the ring in the path of the cylinder contacts, a gear segment carried by the rin and a pinion and actuating shaft therefor in mesh with the gear segment on the ring for imparting rotative movement of the ring within the limits of its travel for advancing and retarding the time of ignition.

6. An explosion engine having a rot-atal'ile series of power cylinders with pistons therein, an igniter means individual to each power cylinder and including an electric contact movable with the power cylinder, a rotatable ring mounted on a fixed portion of the engine concentric with the axis of rotation of the cylinders, said ring carrying spaced contact members in the path of the cylinder contacts, and means for rotating the ring in either direction within the limits of the travel of said ring.

7. An explosion engine having a rotatable series of power cylinders with pistons therein, an igniter means individual to each power cylinder and including an electric contact movable with the power cylinder, a rotatable ring mounted on a fixed portion of the engine concentric with the axis of rotation of the cylinders, said ring carrying spaced contact members in the path of the cylinder contacts, and means for rotating the ring in either direction within the limits of the travel of said ring, said means comprising a segmental rack and a pinion and actuating shaft therefor, the pinion meshing with the rack and said rack being of a length to move either. of the ring carried contacts into op erative relation to the cylinder contacts with respect to the direction of rotation of the cylinders and to cause the advance or retarding of the ignition irrespective of the direction of rotation of the engine.

8. A timer structure for explosion engines comprising a ring mounted for rotative movement, means for imparting limited rotative movement to said ring, and a contact member carried by the ring comprising a stem having an electric contact at one end, an insulating seat for the other end of the stem, said seat being carried by the ring, and a retaining member for the stem also carried by and insulated from the ring, said retaining member having means for the connection thereto of an electric conductor.

9. A timer structure for explosion engines comprising a ring mounted for rotative movement, said ring having a lug thereon directed toward the axis of rotation and a segmental rack also directed toward the axis of rotation, an insulating block mounted in the lug, a conducting stem having one end seated in the block and the other end extending to one side of the ring, a contact roller mounted on the end of the stem remote from the ring, a retaining member mounted on and insulated from the lug and engaging the stem, means on the retaining member for connecting an electric conductor thereto, and a pinion for engaging the rack and provided with an actuating shaft.

10. In an explosion engine, a rotatable series of power cylinders, igniter means for each cylinder including a contact member participating in the rotative movement of the cylinder, a frame member fixed with relation to the rota Live movement of the cylinders, a ring mounted in said frame member, said ring having spaced lugs formed there on and a longitudinal slot formed therethrough, a limiting stop extending through the slot of the ring and carried by the frame member, a segmental rack carried by the ring, a pinion and actuating shaft therefor carried by the frame member with the pinion in engagement with the rack, insulating blocks carried by the lugs, conduct-ing stems carried by the blocks and extending beyond one side of the ring, contact rollers at the ends of the stems remote from the ring and in the path of the cylinder contacts, retaining members carried by and insulated from the ring and engaging the stems, and means on said retaining members for the coupling of electric conductors thereto.

11. An explosion engine having a rotatable series of power cylinders each provided with an igniting means individual thereto, and a contact member connected to said igniting means, said contact member participating in the movement of the cylinder to which it is individual and yieldable in one direction, a ring provided with spaced lugs and with a segmental rack, said ring also having a longitudinally disposed slot, stop means traversing the slot for determining the extent of movement of the ring, insulating blocks carried by the lugs of the ring, stems each mounted at one end of a corresponding insulating block and extending to one side of the ring, a contact roller on each ring in the path of the yieldable contacts of the cylinders, and insulated conducting means carried by the ring in engagement with the stems, said conducting means being provided with means for the connection therewith of conductors.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my si nature in the presence of two witnesses.

ALBERT E. YOUNGREN.

\Vitnesses ELIZABETH J. CHANDLER, BLANOIIE HILL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

